Road/Map/Canvas
Abstract
The poems in this thesis explore the connection between
imagination, space and belonging. Actual landscapes provoke
imaginative responses. A small town in South Peru becomes the
focus of desire, belonging and nostalgia. The landscape of South
India becomes an imaginary home, while more familiar cities are
seen through lenses of loss, regret, doubt and reconciliation. A
section in the thesis focuses on the purely imaginative spaces
depicted in paintings. These spaces evoke humor, promise and
fear. The title "Road/Map/Canvas" unites the concept of places
that are real and perceived, constructed and imagined.
Apprehending real and imagined places alike through an artist’s
eye, this thesis makes the case that places are not immutable
givens. They are instead loci of potential that the imaginative
perception can unlock and re-create; they are "homes" that are "yet
unknown."
Table of Contents
Introduction -- FAR -- Seraquilla 1 -- Seraquilla 2-- Seraquilla 3 -- Seraquilla 4 -- Seraquilla 5 -- Seraquilla 6 -- Seraquilla 7 -- Seraquilla 8 -- Seraquilla 9 -- Night in Santa Marta -- Seraquilla 10 -- HERE -- The Moon -- Morandi -- Thiebaud -- Mohamedi -- Richter -- deChirico (Piazza d’Italia, 1969) -- NEAR -- While Surfing the Web -- London Thumakda -- Kerala: Train, Northbound 1 -- Kerala: Train, Northbound 2 -- Kerala: Backwaters 1 -- Kerala: Backwaters 2 -- Kerala: Wayanad 1 -- Kerala: Wayanad 2 -- Kerala: Wayanad 3 -- Kerala: Wayanad 4 -- Kerala: Wayanad 5 -- Getting off a Bus in Pune -- An afternoon exchange
Degree
M.F.A.